Founding Engineer

2 days ago

New York, New York, United States Cipher Music Full time $200,000 - $250,000 per year

About Cipher

Cipher is the legal library of trending sounds for brands. In the short-form era of social media, Cipher makes audio and licensable IP accessible to brands for their vertical video content. Through our library, brands can avoid the eight-to-nine-figure lawsuits they've been hit with for copyright infringement. We're working with some of the biggest names in music (BMG, Empire, TikTok's SoundOn, Insomniac, and more), and have sold to noted brands like PepsiCo and Warby Parker.

Backed by Cornell University, investors from private equity firms, and family offices, we're now looking for a
Founding Engineer
to join as one of our earliest hires. This is a chance to have an outsized impact on the product, architecture, and culture of Cipher as we scale.

What You'll Do

  • Design, build, and maintain core product features across the stack (front-end, back-end, and integrations).
  • Collaborate directly with the founders and early team to translate product needs into technical execution.
  • Own end-to-end development of new features, from concept to deployment.
  • Ensure security, scalability, and performance of the codebase.
  • Set and uphold engineering best practices in a fast-moving startup environment.
  • Help shape the technical roadmap and contribute to hiring as the team grows.

What We're Looking For

  • 5+ years of full-stack development experience (startups or high-growth environments a plus).
  • Proficiency in modern JavaScript frameworks (React, , or similar) and or Python backends.
  • Experience with relational databases (e.g., PostgreSQL) and cloud infrastructure (AWS, GCP, or similar).
  • Strong understanding of APIs (REST/GraphQL) and integrations.
  • Comfort with version control (Git) and CI/CD pipelines.
  • Strong product intuition — you enjoy thinking about user experience, not just code.
  • Entrepreneurial mindset: adaptable, resourceful, and excited to build from zero to one.

Nice to Have

  • Chronically online: familiar with the latest trends, memes, and "TikTok songs" on social media
  • Prior experience with marketplaces, payments, or licensing/legal tech platforms.
  • Familiarity with music tech, media, or entertainment industries.
  • Experience working on small, fast-moving teams.

Why Join Cipher?

  • Join as one of the first engineering hires, with significant ownership of product and technology.
  • Direct exposure to world-class labels, publishers, and brands.
  • Equity upside in a high-growth startup defining a new category.
  • A collaborative, creative culture where your ideas matter.

Compensation

  • Competitive startup salary
  • Meaningful equity
  • Flexible culture

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